


Lament

by Liza_Taylor



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Cindered Shadows DLC Spoilers, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-02-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:48:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22881991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liza_Taylor/pseuds/Liza_Taylor
Summary: Asleep for 5 years, Byleth goes to visit her parents grave and thinks about the fact she never really knew her mother.ClaudeXByleth(very minor).Cindered Shadows Spoilers(in regards to details about Byleth's mother)
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Kudos: 42





	Lament

Byleth stood in front of the grave of her parents. “Hi Dad, Hi…Sitri.” She grimaced. It felt weird to refer to a woman she had never known as her mother. She rubbed the back of her neck and took out the bottle of liquor she had snuck out of the kitchen and poured a cup for herself and one for Jeralt and set it on Jeralt’s grave.

“I’m not sure if you drink Sitri otherwise I would have offered.” Probably not since what Rhea told Byleth about Sitri, she was a frail woman so drinking was probably not an option for her. 

She took a sip of the liquor and stared down at the graves. “Sorry I haven’t been visiting, I was asleep for five years. A war happened in that timeframe, can you believe it? This place got destroyed in the process too, everyone is busy trying to get it all figured out…” Byleth put down her cup and whispered, “I miss you Dad. You would know exactly what to do at a time like this.”

Despite being emotionless for most of her life, he had always been able to sense her moods. He knew when she was upset or when she was happy, smiling bright for both of them. Despite her nickname of the Ashen Demon, he was the talented one of the two of them.

“Teach, you okay?”

She rubbed her eyes and turned her head as Claude approached. As he got closer, he paused and winced, “Sorry, I shouldn’t have butted in. Didn’t realize you were visiting your parents.”

She shook her head. “It’s fine Claude.” She gestured for him to come closer. “To be honest I was visiting my dad more than Sitri.”

Claude nodded in understanding as she had explained it to him five years ago. Despite Sitri being the one who gave birth to Byleth, it was weird to refer to her as “mother” since they had never met and Byleth had almost no information about her growing up. Sitri was a stranger, someone that Byleth knew by name and face but she was never a “mother”. Jeralt was her dad, mom, anything that Byleth needed. And perhaps it was the lack of emotions but Byleth never looked for a mother-figure either. Jeralt was enough for her.

“We should get some rags to clean the graves,” he offered. “I think they will both like that very much.”

Byleth chuckled. “Maybe but I know Dad would be okay with his grave looking all dingy and worn like that. More his style. We can clean Sitri’s though.” She seemed like a more prim and proper lady.

“I’ll be right back.” In less than ten minutes, Claude was back with the rags and together they began working on getting all the dirt and grime off Sitri’s grave.

“Teach, are you sure you’re okay? I mean, everything happened so fast back then.”

Claude wasn’t kidding. Soon after her father passed, she had avenged his death, gained the power of Sothis and saw the beginning of the war against Edelgard. There really had not been time to really process anything that had happened.

“What about?”

“Well, when we actually buried your mother, you weren’t…upset by it? I don’t mean to be harsh about it Teach, but you didn’t even shed a tear.”

“I never knew her,” admitted Byleth. She rested her hand on the grave. “Yes she gave birth to me but she was never an actual person. Even seeing the body, I could only imagine the person my dad knew.” She released a small smile. “However, I know he loved her. Whenever he mentioned her, Dad would get this little smile and would always talk about her fondly.” Her vision blurred and Claude got up and walked to her side and put his arms around her.

“It’s okay Teach, I’ll keep you covered so no one sees you.”

Byleth buried her face into his jacket. “I wish I could have seen the Sitri my dad saw. I wish she would have been alive so I could have met her.” What would her life have been like if they had been able to raise her together?

Claude rubbed lazy circles on her back and did not complain or move until she finally pulled away.

“Sorry about that Claude.”

He shook his head. “No problem at all Teach. You want to head back to your room and rest for the night?” He gestured to his eyes. “I can take care of things and make sure Seteth doesn’t bother you.”

Byleth rubbed her eyes, aware she probably looked like a mess. “I’ll take you up on that Claude.”

While Claude went to keep an eye on the progress of getting Garreg Mach back to working conditions, Byleth turned back to the graves and gave them the best smile she could in these circumstances. “Maybe one day I can call you ‘mom’ Sitri. And don’t worry Dad, I’ll visit more often to let you know everything’s that’s been going on.”

The wind picked up and ruffled her hair and for a moment Byleth thought she saw two figures sitting on the graves, holding hands. She shook her head and looked again. Nothing. “Well, you two better not start haunting me, I already had to deal with one voice in my head.” Softer she added, “I’ll try to make you both proud.”

She turned and headed for her room for the night.


End file.
